State Supreme Court
Clerk/Administrator Frederick “Fritz” K. Ohlrich said yesterday he will retire
June 29, ending 47 years of government service.

“I have been
privileged and honored to serve the Supreme Court as its 25th Clerk
of the Court, serving two of the court’s Chief Justices and nine of its
Associate Justices,” Ohlrich said in a statement released by the Administrative
Office of the Courts.

“I have very
much enjoyed working with the court’s incredibly skilled staff
of dedicated and hardworking clerks, attorneys, and other
professionals,” he added. “I will be forever grateful for the opportunity to
serve the Supreme Court of California. I leave offering my most sincere
thanks and heartfelt gratitude, and wishing Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye and
the entire court the very best in the future.”

The court said
it will immediately begin a recruitment to succeed Ohlrich,69, in the position
he has held since 2000. Then-Chief Justice Ronald M. George tapped him for the
post while he was serving as top administrator of the now-defunct Los Angeles
Municipal Court.

Long Career

Ohlrich entered
public service as a Ventura County deputy sheriff in 1965. While serving there,
he graduated from California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, where he
later earned a master’s degree in judicial administration. He is a
graduate fellow of the National Center for State Courts,
Institute for Court Management Program.

He was hired as
assistant executive officer of the Ventura County Municipal Court, serving
there for two years before joining the Newhall Municipal Court as administrator
in 1976. He joined the Los Angeles Municipal Court in 1983 as assistant
administrator under Edward Kritzman.

In 1993,
Kritzman became administrator of the Administratively Unified Courts of Los
Angeles County. That entity combined functions of the Los Angeles Superior
Court, the Los Angeles Municipal Court, and a handful of smaller municipal
courts. Ohlrich became one of two assistant administrators of AUCLA.

But when the Los
Angeles Municipal Court pulled out of AUCLA in 1995, in part because of anger
over Superior Court judges’ objections to court consolidation, Kritzman and
Ohlrich returned to their former positions. Kritzman soon retired, however, and
the Ohlrich, the only candidate considered for the job, was named to replace
him.

Many Committees

Ohlrich is now
serving his second term as an advisory member of the Judicial Council and
is a member of the council’s Executive and Planning Committee and Appellate
Advisory Committee. He also is a member of the council’s Emergency
Response and Security Task Force and the Appellate Court Security Committee,
and is a former member of the Working Group on Third-Party Use of Court
Facilities.

He was one of
the first court executives to serve on the Governing Board
of the Center for Judicial Education and Research. He was honored with a
Distinguished Service Award from the National Center for State Courts in 1998
and a Judicial Council Distinguished Service Award in 1999.

Both of the
chief justices under whom he served praised him yesterday. Chief Justice
Cantil-Sakauye called him “an invaluable advisor and friend,” while George
said he “was of invaluable service to the court” and “played a vital role in
ensuring the success of the special outreach sessions annually held by the
California Supreme Court throughout the state.”